The Other Side of a Coin
by Riri Yuki
Summary: If Garrus was the Specter, Anderson never blew his Specter chance, and Shepard didn't get over Akuze? Mass Effect 1 might have been considerably different. Suggestion of rape inside (with fair warning). {{Looking for a Beta}}
1. Helping a Cause

The Galactic News Channel features an asari sitting behind a news desk, with a planet's image behind her. Her words are drowned out by the traffic that passes just beneath the big television screen, but anyone paying attention can easily decipher what the asari is talking about.

The turian planet Helion Prime had been attacked only hours ago and news coverage of the damage are being thrown across the Citadel. Recorded video of explosions appearing on the planet's surface are all that anyone can see.

"I wonder if Councilor Sparatus is doing anything about the attack."

"Come on Ash, you're not supposed to think about work on your days off. It makes you look like a workaholic. Right, Shepard?"

"What?" A third voice enters the conversation, "What did you say?"

In front of the Embassy Bar are three humans C-Sec officers enjoying their day off. They huddle together on a bench that perfectly seats three people and look out to the holographic view. There is no natural sky on the Citadel, only computerized image of a perfect, sunny day.

The male with black hair in a military cut and eyes the color of dark honey is Kaiden Alenko from the enforcement division. His rank in the Alliance went as high as Staff Lieutenant before the career change. Councilor Udina is to thank for the switch; he pushed Kaiden into joining the Citadel in the first way of human applicants because his biotics are remarkable. Or so said his Jump Zero reports.

At the opposite side sat a woman with jet-black hair in a military-standard bun and her eyes an innocent chocolate brown. This woman is Ashley Williams, another human who joined the Alliance before claiming a spot in the Special Response Division. Military life ran deep in Williams' blood, going as far back as her grandfather who gave the Williams' name the honor of going down history as the first humans to surrender to the turians. Because of her superiors' prejudice against her family legacy, Ashley's record is only full of groundside garrison posts which she eventually ranked herself up to Gunnery Chief. Her application into C-Sec was exceptional due to Ashley's exemplary technical scores.

Sitting between the two sat an auburn-haired woman with stormy grey eyes known as the famous Sabrina Shepard. Born on earth, Sabrina grew up without knowing a family other than the underworld street gangs until a man by the name Benjamin Harper recruited her into the Alliance military. Shepard quickly raised the ranks to Lieutenant Commander before she was sent on a mission to Akuze, where her entire unit had been slaughtered by a thresher maw except for her. It came as no shock when her name appeared in the batch of applicants nor when she became one of the extremely few humans to work in the investigation division.

Williams' face turns pink and Alenko starts to laugh, "Sorry, I didn't mean to bore you on your day off, Shep."

The red-haired woman sends a glare to silence her male friend before smiling at Williams. "It's not you Ash, I'm just thinking…about a case I just got."

Despite Shepard's attempt to comfort Williams, the woman shuts up completely and sends dirty looks towards Alenko who just continues laughing. Shepard leans away from her friends and hides her own smile, trying not to let the others see her by facing the view.

The Presidium is the highest level in the Citadel, making it a favorite spot for people to relax, and not just because of the admittedly beautiful view. On this level, there are many shops that sell imports from planets across the galaxy. Since it is the highest point, it's easier to plan out a full day's worth of activity when you can see most everything. And the most important aspect, to most C-Sec officers during their hours off the clock, is the Embassy Bar behind them.

"So what's this oh-so-important-case that you _have_ to think about on your day off?" Alenko leans into his seat, very conscious of the tiny gap between him and the woman to his right.

Shepard leans her elbows on her knees as she thinks for a second before answering, "Executor Pallin asked me to collect information on Spectre Anderson…but I keep running into dead ends."

Williams throws in the next question, "Did he send Nihlus to ask you?" A sharp elbow to her ribs causes the woman to yelp in surprise, mixed with pain. "What?" Alenko points to the third member and Williams quickly apologizes.

Shepard merely looks at two with amusement. "Nihlus is on a mission, top secret."

"Meaning Saren told you to piss off when you asked."

"Alenko!" Now it's Williams' turn to elbow him. Alenko doesn't even flinch but he fakes a pained expression for the sake of not having Ashley try again. Shepard starts to chuckle and earns herself an annoyed glance from Williams, at which pointshe quickly pretends to be coughing.

"Saren said, quote, 'You're not Nihilus's immediate contact nor family so I will not waste my time sharing information that is irrelevant to you', end quote."

"Ugh." Williams rolls her eyes and slams her fist on her knees. "That Saren…from day one he's had a thing out for every human who joined C-Sec. What does he got against us anyways? Just talking to him makes my skin crawl, he's just so…what's the word? Arrogant?"

"Funny," Alenko points out. "When Saren showed up at the evaluation last week you got so nervous that you almost fainted. I just assumed you were like our Commander and got weak around a certain special someone." Alenko ends in a laugh as Williams tries to punch his arm, as hard as she can, to shut him up.

"I'm not a Commander anymore," Shepard gently reminds the two.

Suddenly her ear picks up a soft ringing noise coming from the tiny device inside her ear. Shepard presses the side of her visor, bringing up an unknown number on her caller ID. Kaiden and Ashley are still talking away so Shepard stands up and takes a few steps away. Her right arm glows orange as her omni-tool appears. Swiftly pressing some buttons, she answers the call to hear a muffled voice speak through her earpiece. "Yes, Sabrina Shepard speaking…hello. Did you learn anything? Hmm…I see, thanks."

Her omni-tool disappears and Shepard turns to her friends who are still very much in their conversation. "Keep making kissy faces at each other while I go nip this case in the bud."

"When does Pallin want you to report in?" Alenko asks as he looks at his watch.

Already walking towards the Wards, she answers with a, "Fourteen-hundred."

Williams also glances at her watch. "Hey Shepard, it's already fourteen-hundred though."

"What!?" Shepard glances at her own digital clock on her visor confirming what her friends said. The red-head shouts a profanity and books it to the Citadel Tower.

/\/\/\

Running all the way to the Citadel Tower, Shepard jogs past the endless trees, around a fountain, and up a set of stairs until Executor Pallin spots the woman. Just from a glance, Shepard knew that her next post was going to be an unpleasant one. Executor Pallin is a man of great self control, never showing his emotions, so when Shepard reaches him and sees his nostrils flaring she knew.

"Executor Pallin," she gasps him with the best polite tone she can muster up.

"Shepard," Pallin greets her with narrowed eyes, causing the red-head to flinch ever so slightly. "What have you got?" He didn't comment on her sloppy appearance, her lack of air, or demand whatever half-cooked excuse the human could make up on the run over here.

"Nothing right now sir, but there is one mo–" but the turian interrupts her.

"Then I will tell the Council that the investigations is closed and there is nothing to re-"

"Now hold on a minute!" She ignores the look of mild surprise on the turian's face and continues, "I'll have evidence in an hour at max."

Pallin folds his arms. "Do you think the Council has time to wait? Your investigation is _over_. Enjoy your day off, Shepard." Shepard doesn't get to dispute anything as Pallin turns and walk away.

"Son of a bitch," she growls as she turns to head out, only to bump into a turian. Looking up, she finds that she ran into, not one, but two turians who stare down at her.

The turian she directly ran into is a male wearing a cobalt blue and black armor and a visor over his left eye. The markings on his face remind her of another turian she knew, but she can't remember exactly who. Meanwhile, the man before her is staring at her with a curious expression. He moves his hands off her shoulders, and she takes a step back. For some reason, she hadn't even noticed _when_ he had put his hands on her in the first place.

By his side is a female turian with white and black armor with neon green lights. Unlike the male, she had the roughened appearance of a mercenary. Her face markings differ from the male's, though there isn't much to begin with and the paint looks worn out. The woman looks down at Shepard with disgust as she moves in closer to the male, looking ready to walk around Shepard.

Suddenly she recognizes the male's face paint. He had been a senior officer in C-Sec that was a stickler for the rules before he retired to Palaven. _Thank god._

"Vakarian?" The turian's eyes light up and Shepard salutes him. "I'm Sabrina Shepard. I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Anderson. I also knew your father during the short time we both worked in C-Sec."

"Judging by how close Executor Pallin and you are, I'm sure you must have spent a lot of time with my father." It takes a minute for Shepard to catch on to what he's saying and her mind jumps back to the swear she muttered five seconds ago. _Did he hear me?_ Her eyes widen and the turian's mandibles flare up in a grin. "I'm joking." He motions for her to relax as he introduces himself, "we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Garrus Vakarian and this is Anya Villornus."

The female turian barely acknowledges Shepard as she appears to be talking to someone through her ear piece. Shepard still nods her head at the turian before turning back to Garrus with her hands neatly folded behind her back.

"I know. Executor Pallin told me about you briefly when he gave me the case."

"Anything you can tell me?"

Shepard quickly wracks her brain for any useful information she dug up, "Nothing you don't already know sir. Anything more would take days to get through the red tape just to access the files…I'm sorry. I only received the investigation today so I–"

Shepard was about to share the information about her lead when Villornus speaks up. "I think the Council is ready for us."

Garrus nods back to the woman and Shepard take it as her cue to leave. "Good luck Vakarian, I'm rooting for you."

Unfolding her hands, the human hurries along to escape the tower. As she passes by Avina, the Citadel's VI, her ears picks up the same ringing noise from earlier.

_Bleep. Bleep. Bleep._

Extending her arm, her omni-tool appears once more. A message from her contact appears asking if she went and checked out the lead. Shepard quickly replies that she'll check it out and thanks him before lowering her arm.

_What would Nihlus do? _Her lips curve into a smile as she recalls a memory of the turian Specter. If she takes the information to Pallin, he might just punish her for not dropping the case after he explicitly told her so. The turian might not even bother to look into it…but on the other hand, she could do it on her own and send whatever she knew to Vakarian. Either way, she would be stuck with enough paperwork to build a forest.

"When you want something done, leave it to a human!" Shepard smirks confidently to herself while she stretches her arms above her head.

Shepard pulls out her omni-tool again, quickly writing an apology message for her two friends. She made sure to write about work never ending before hitting the send key. It took a matter of seconds for them both to reply, demanding that she take the next day off to visit them both. After sending a message back, she quickly pulls up her contact's number. She shifts the conversation to her ear piece as she heads to the Wards.


	2. Joining A Cause

The Wards is the residential area on the Citadel, it's where every resident on the Citadel calls home. Shepard owns a tiny, cramped house here, along with all of C-Sec and crooks, showing that money doesn't mean much when you're stuck in space. Even Barla Von, her contact and next door neighbor, lives in a tiny hole in the wall. Once, she has taken a step inside because her water wasn't working and it's easy to say that his interior is far nicer than half the rooms in this section.

That's not the only downside. At any time of day Shepard finds herself bumping shoulders with someone in the crowded hall. Half of the thefts on the Citadel happen here and C-Sec can rarely offer any help to the victims. It doesn't help that the Wards connect to the Markets so this level gets the traffic from everyone.

Despite it all, Shepard wouldn't trade her home for any other spot. Unlike the Presidium, which has brief day-night-cycle, the Wards don't have any artificial light. The only light in the Wards is from over the ledge with the skyline of space and the Citadel's arms. From the ground, there are buildings tightly built together. The enormous number of people reminds Shepard of the heavily populated cities she grew up with on Earth.

For today though, Shepard walks past the view and heads directly to the Upper Wards.

Barla Von told her that Dr. Michel had information that might be useful for the Anderson case, which meant Shepard would have what she needs to put the bastard behind bars. C-Sec isn't willing to work with the Shadow Broker, for fear of being tied to him. Turians are follow-the-book kind of species but humans are not. Shepard isn't the first C-Sec officer to get information from the Shadow Broker, and won't be the last. Either way, Pallin was an old-school turian who would have dismissed the information if he knew it came from a criminal.

_His loss is my gain_, she muses to herself as she steps into the Med Clinic, "Hey Doc-"

No one in the room bothers to look back when Shepard walks in until the door is already shut and the red-haired C-Sec officer is hiding against the wall. Apparently, no one heard her come in or they didn't bother to care. _What the hell is going on?_ Shepard thinks as she slides herself to the edge and looks around the wall to see what was going on. Dr. Chloe Michel is standing right in the middle of a group of thugs who look to be so engrossed on threatening the woman that they wouldn't have noticed the C-Sec woman entering the room. Shepard picks up her name being said multiple times and every time, it's about what Shepard is not supposed to learn from Dr. Michel.

_They're working for Anderson…clever bastard. _Drawing her gun, she recedes back into her hiding spot with her eyes glued on the gang. All she needs is once chance to take out the leader and rescue the doctor but how is she going to take a shot with everyone so close to Michel? The doors swish open and stepping into the room is none other than Vakarian. Shepard looks surprised and confused for a second before she spots her chance and looks back at the thugs.

All the thugs have their attention on Vakarian and one of them shouts, "Who are hell are you?!"

_Shit!_ Shepard gracefully swings out of hiding and lodges a laser beam between the leader's eyes, freeing the doctor from his grasp and throwing the clearly surprised thugs into disarray. The C-Sec agent rises from the floor, gun pointed at closest member to the doctor, waiting for him to move. The thugs are too shocked to think about what to do which allows Shepard time to move closer to the doctor.

Just as Shepard steps out of her hiding spot, Dr. Michel makes a noise that accidently snaps the thugs back to attention and they begin to fire at the C-Sec officer. Common sense might have told the red head just to jump back behind the cover but she was more worried about Dr. Michel's safety than her own.

If Vakarian hadn't started to fire, Shepard was sure that she wouldn't have made it out of there alive. The turian and his gang take most of the thug's attention while Shepard brutally fights her way to the doctor with some hand-to-hand combat. Most of the thugs took cover to hide from laser beams and left a clear path for Shepard to reach Dr. Michel.

Grabbing the doctor by her arm, Shepard swerves behind the closest wall with the doctor right behind her. "Stay down," she yells as she crouches and starts firing. Vakarian and his team didn't need her help. When Shepard starts shooting, more than half the thugs are dead but she takes the last kill by blowing up the gas tank. The room fills with smoke and the stench of burnt skin but it's safe. The dust settles and reveals that all hostiles are taken out…as well as half the Med Clinic and perhaps someone's next paycheck.

Shepard turns to the doctor and helps her onto her feet while Shepard secures that it's safe.

Her 'cover' is shot up with bullet holes, leaving Shepard in awe at how the wall is still standing. Someone had fired the tank behind the thugs, causing that half of the room to be covered with flame marks and now crisp corpses. Vakarian and his team step out of the cover that Shepard was hiding in earlier. It didn't escape her attention that now Vakarian is working with a krogan that she knew by the name Wrex, 'friend' of C-Sec.

"Are you two alright?" are the first words out of Vakarian's mouth as his group approaches them.

"What were you thinking?" Shepard huffs as she stops him from getting too close to her suspect by stepping up to his chest and sending him a nasty glare. She didn't care that he easily towered over her or that his team outnumbered her by three to one. He jeopardized her only suspect and possibly the only lead to solving her case. "It's a good thing I took the shot or that guy could've killed Dr. Michel! She's our only lead to taking down Anderson!"

The turian puts his hands up in defense while Wrex just scoffs, "Can't avoid you, can I?"

Pointing her index finger at the krogan, Shepard sent him a deadly glare. "I'm not even _talking_ to you until you pay me back for the gun you broke!"

"Not happening."

"Don't make me have to sell your testicles," Shepard threatens as she directs her rage towards the scarred krogan.

Wrex growls as he takes a step forward. "I'd like to see you try."

"I don't know what's worse, a more-scars-than-hide krogan or a temperamental human," says Villornus as she puts her assault rifle away.

Shepard decides not to say anything to the female, simply because she finally takes a look at the doctor who looks physically unharmed but shaken up. "Are you okay? Did they hit you anywhere?"

Dr. Michel shakes her head. Shepard can detect a hint of a French accent as she speaks. "No, I'm okay. Thanks to you. All of you."

"That's a relief," Vakarian speaks up. "Do you know why they were threatening you?"

The doctor begins to wring her hands together, "Those men were working for Fist. They wanted to shut me up, to keep me from telling Shepard about the quarian."

"The one I told you about," Wrex throws in snippily.

"This quarian must be the evidence I was looking for! I'm willing to bet Wrex's next-born child that it can link Anderson to the geth!" Shepard smirks as Wrex mumbles something unintelligent at her.

The female turian rolls her eyes while Vakarian takes control. "Time to go see Fist."

The trio starts to leave but Shepard stops them. "Hey wait a minute." They stop and look at her. "This is your call but I want to stop Anderson as much as you do! I'm coming with!"

Villornus starts to protest the idea but Vakarian stops her. "Why do you want to take him down?"

Shepard doesn't hesitate as she says, "Anderson is going to screw up everything humans have done for the universe. For humanity's sake, I'll take him down with a bullet between his eyes if I have to." The C-Sec officer offers the turian a smug grin. "It's fitting that C-Sec should bring down a Spectre if they go corrupt. It's Spectres like Anderson that makes Nihlus's job so difficult!"

"Nihlus?" Vakarian sounds surprised by the name. "You knew him?"

The question catches Shepard off guard but Vakarian asks it again. "C-Sec lets a lot of things happen because red tape doesn't allow them to stop it. Nihilus is the only Spectre I know and he convinced me that C-Sec isn't a complete waste of the tax credits."

Shepard picks up on the awkward silence between the two turians but, to her surprise, it's the female turian that accepts her. "Bring her along; I doubt we'll find another human with a grudge against this bastard."

Apparently agreeing, Vakarian grins. "Welcome aboard."

Shepard forgets to ask what the female had meant, "Fist is going to be waiting for us. When we hit him, we better make sure to hit him hard." To emphasize this, she slams her fist into her palm.

Everyone agrees. Shepard gives Dr. Michel her information so the doctor can call her the next time someone tries to threaten her and if she gets any more information. The doctor thanks them all again before tending to the remodeling of her office and everyone else heads down to take care of Fist.

/\/\/\

As much as Shepard hates to admit it, Villornus is damn good with her biotics. That alone is a statement in itself as Villornus is the first turian biotic she has ever met. As for Wrex and Vakarian, they're both more than enough muscle to take down an entire fleet.

Chora's Den was empty, with the exception of all the thugs that tried to stop the gang but the hired-hands prove to be easy prey. In the back, Fist's body can be found in his office. After Vakarian was nice enough to let two workers go free and Fist, Wrex shot Fist to finish up his contract before he agreed to continue helping them.

Now it's a race against the clock. Fist had let the quarian go already and now they had to run to the meeting location. Thankfully it's only around the corner. They reach the alleyway just in time to see a turian sliding his hand down a quarian's arm before said quarian pushes him away.

Next thing anyone knew, salarians joined the fight with their guns and the entire alleyway was filled with lasers. In the end, the good guys won the battle and the quarian was safe and sound.

"Fist set me up!" the quarian shouts as she walks out of the barrel she chose to duck behind, "I knew I couldn't trust him."

"Are you okay?" Shepard beats Vakarian to the question.

"I know how to look after myself, not that I don't appreciate the help. Who are you?" The quarian eyes the group.

Shepard puts her gun away and smiles. "It's always refreshing to see females of different species being independent. She's okay in my book."

Wrex huffs and Shepard glares at him, daring him to say something but Anya steps between the two and shoots them both dirty looks.

Vakarian steps up to the quarian and introduces himself. "I'm Garrus Vakarian, I'm looking for evidence to prove Anderson's a traitor."

The quarian nods her head. "Then I have to chance to repay you for saving my life but not here, we need to go somewhere safe."

"Then to Councilor Sparatus's office, it's the best place." Anya stands behind the quarian with her gun still out. "We better get moving before backup shows."

No one argues with her and quickly escapes the alleyway, hoping no one would stumble upon the dead salarians and one dead turian. Shepard just hoped that no one at C-Sec would tie her to this or she knew what horrible punishment lied in store for her. Rookie detail.

At Councilor Sparatus's office, the turian is anything but kind after they shot up a club on the Citadel, but he decides to hold off on punishing them and addresses the evidence. It turns out the quarian is named Tali'Zorah nar Rayya and Anderson was smart to try and silence her. The evidence she had was all they they needed to get Anderson's Spectre title revoked. It was an audio recording taken from a geth. Councilor Sparatus tells everyone to meet at the Citadel Tower to go up to the Council and present this evidence. This time, he promised that something would be done.

/\/\/\

Nothing is easy when it comes to Spectres.

The Council recognized the attack on Helios Prime to be Anderson's fault and the death of Spectre Nihlus, a shock to Shepard as she hadn't heard about the turian's death until then. Anderson must have heard about his men's death and fled from Council Space. As of now, no one knew his whereabouts. The only clue anyone has is that he is working with Matriarch Benezia, a powerful asari biotic. Her daughter, Liara T'soni might have an idea of her mother's whereabouts but it's unsure as to what side the young asari has aligned herself. When it came to the Reapers, something mentioned in the vid Tali gave us, the Council were quick to label it as a lie Anderson fed the Geth to make them follow him. Where Vakarian stood on it, Shepard had no clue but the important thing was taking down Anderson.

In the end, Garrus Vakarian was made a Spectre and his first job is to hunt down Anderson. To help him, he is given the SSV Normandy. The SSV Normandy is a deep scout frigate prototype with possible the best stealth system ever seen to date. Only unexpected, yet pleasant, surprise is the ship's creator or rather, creators. The Turian Hierarchy and the Alliance co-developed this ship, with the Citadel Council sponsorship. The Council gets the final say on who gets to use the ship and because Anderson is top priority, the ship will fall into Vakarian's hand.


	3. The First Human Spectre

Vakarian and everyone are back heading to the ship to start their search for the doctor Liara T'Soni. Shepard walks behind the group with her head up in the cloud, her mind wrapped up in the loss of idol, Nihlus. From her investigation, she couldn't have expected Anderson to do something so extreme. The human Spectre's files play over in her head.

_Graduated from the N7 marine program at Arcturus Station with honors from the First Contact War_. Nothing out of the ordinary, far better than her own records but similarities did appear, such as they're both Earth Born and from the N7. _Where did it all go so wrong? It's not a hate crime, did he kill him because Nihulus found out something? What could be worth killing over?_

"-ina! Sabrina!"

Someone is shouting her name, and her _first_ name at that. Shepard looks up and spots Ashley and Kaidan standing in front of her as the team are already up ahead, looking back at the trio. Wrex gives the two other C-Sec officers a glare but they ignore him.

Vakarian waves his hand in the air and shouts out to her, "Meet us on the ship."

The red-head quickly returns the wave. Villornus, Vakarian, and Wrex don't hesitate to leave the woman but the quarian gives Shepard a second look. The human gives Tali a smile and a gentle nod of her head, confirming that she was fine. After Tali heads after them, she turns to her friends.

"Heard you're taking vacation leave," Ashley asks.

"Yeah." Shepard crosses her arms over her chest. "I'm going to go with the turians to stop Anderson."

Ashley throws her arms around Shepard's shoulders and hugs her tightly. "I'll miss you Skipper, be careful! Make sure you send me a vid every week so I know you're okay. You need anything? Just say it. I'll send you vids too." Ashley steps back from the commander, a worried expression on her face.

Shepard laughs as she grabs Ashley's arm and gives her a gentle squeeze. "You got it, I promise."

"The point is it let us know how you're doing…or let Ash know. She might believe that turians keep their humans captive in tiny cramped cages or maybe feed them to their pets," Kaidan throws in. His face has a smile so wide that Shepard's own matches it while Ashley's worry grows bigger. "Or worse," Kaidan continues. "Maybe they'll starve her for weeks, making her too weak to fight back and _then_ they-ow, Commander!"

"Stop scaring Ash!" Shepard is still smiling but she laid a not-so-gentle palm to Kaidan's forehead. "If I get so much as one message about you picking on her you're gonna have bigger problems on your plate than keeping the peace."

Kaidan laughs at Ashley's upset face as she catches on that he was pulling her leg. The C-Sec officer salutes Shepard. "Aye aye Commander, I'll do my best not to scare her but I can't make any promises."

"Like _you_ could scare me." Ashley ignores Kaidan and turns her attention to Shepard, holding her hand one last time. "But seriously, let me know how you're doing. I don't want to see you hurt."

Sabrina smiles and moves to hold both of her friend's hands, giving a gentle squeeze. "I will send both of you vids as much as possible, I promise. We'll take down Anderson and be back to regular desk work before Pallin misses me!" Her joke makes everyone's face break into a smile.

Ashley and Kaidan give the red-haired woman one final hug before they move on with enjoying whatever's left of their day off. Shepard tries to catch up with the team and walks into the elevator to take her straight to the Normandy.

_Bleep. Bleep. Bleep._

_Again?_ Shepard waits until she is inside and the doors are shut to answers the call for the sake of privacy. "Sabrina Shepard spea-"

_We finally speak, Shepard_, says a masculine voice who is clearly not her contact because the lack of wheezing. Shepard looks around and tries to ask who it is but the voice continues on. _I've been waiting a long time to have a word with you. I heard that it's thanks to your efforts that the Council have stripped me of my Spectre status._"

_Anderson_.

Shepard starts typing rapidly on her omni-tool, trying to trace the call as he carried on. _I thought it would be polite to tell you personally that they can't stop me. My plans are too far ahead for a bunch of diplomatic species to stop. By the time they figure out what I have planned, it'll be too late._

"What are you talking about, Anderson?"

_Ah…you even sound like him._

"Him?" Shepard looks at her arm with a loading bar. The tracking device is not even half way so she decides to engage him. "Him who?"

_Captain Benjamin Harper._

Shepard's throat tightens at the name and she can feel a dull throb in her head. "W-what? You knew Captain Harper?"

Anderson laughs. _We grew up together in London, he speaks about you often in the vids. He really loves you. Benji even got me to promise to watch over you if anything happens to him…and I'm keeping my word._

"Keeping your word?" Shepard's headache grows worst. The way Anderson spoke about Bejmain, as if he was still alive, didn't go unnoticed but her headache is too distracting for her to call him out on it. "I don't need your help! Stop killing people! Why are you doing this!?"

_See you soon, Sabrina._

"Anderson!"

…

Shepard looks at her omni-tool and it shows that the call is disconnected but it's only a few seconds shy of finishing the tracking. _Damn it!_ She slams her fist against the wall before she covers her eyes, fighting her headache and her tears.

"He knows…Harper…Susan…I-I-" and Shepard throws another fist at the doors again just before they open.

Behind the doors stood Vakarian who looks to be caught off guard by the assault before his expression is unreadable. Shepard drops her fist and stands up straight; her headache is slowly fading away as she steps out the elevator. Trying to move as fast as possible, she tries to side-step the turian and head into the ship with no questions but obviously the turian isn't going to let her off that easy as he holds her wrist.

"Shepard? What happened?"

Defeated, Shepard doesn't try to fight. "Anderson just called me…but he didn't say anything. I tried to track the call but he hung up…he knows about us."

Vakarian's mandibles flicker as he releases Shepard and folds his arms over his chest. "Why did he pick you? What is your connection to him?"

_Connection?_ Shepard's migraine comes back with a vengeance that makes her shut her eyes tightly. "The man who took me away from the Reds…Captain Benjamin Harper…he is-was…" Shepard corrects herself quickly, hoping the turian wouldn't notice the slip. "He was friends with Anderson. I don't know more, I never met the man…I only know what Anderson just told me."

The turian must see the discomfort Shepard is feeling because a claw gently scrapes a tear that she didn't notice squeeze out of her eye. Vakarian's mandibles are flared in a smirk as he rests a hand on her shoulder, gaining her attention. For some reason, his stare scares off her headache and she feels herself feeling better. Soon enough, the hand on her shoulder starts pushing her back into the elevator and Shepard looks thoroughly confuse.

"Commander?"

"He knows your number. It's best if we change everything before we take off, in case he can track it."

"Right." Shepard didn't argue with her Captain, she kept her eyes off the turian as he called into the ship to let them know that they were heading out. Her unwanted memories shift themselves to the back of her head.

/\/\/\

"I bet we could have gotten a bigger discount if we went to a turian shop," Shepard speaks aloud while playing with her new omni-tool. Right now she is sending out messages to Ashley, Kaidan, her bosses, a few fellow C-Sec officers, and her contacts through a secure link.

Vakarian chuckles as he plays with his visor, having downloaded new apps and plenty of new songs. "A C-Sec discount _and_ a Spectre discount? That Volus might have kicked us out if we tried to lower the prices."

Shepard gives the turian a smug look. "I don't think he would have _dared_. Have you looked in a mirror lately," she asks as she points to their window reflection. "A tall turian Spectre who happens to be the son of the most tight-assed C-Sec officer-no disrespect," she quickly throws in. "That Volus wouldn't have dared."

"None taken," he replies with his mandibles flare up in a grin. "But don't forget about my partner."

"What about me?" Shepard raises an eyebrow. "I don't exactly have the typical armor or even regular C-Sec armor…nothing is scary about me. My outfit looks more like a bathing suit, though I assure you that the technology behind it will turn any Salarian on. Every day there's some guy hitting on me…you don't even want to know what criminals say when they see me."

Councilor Udina had gotten Shepard customized armor. Protection wise, her armor gave her none but as a sentinel her outfit gave plenty of biotics boosts. There are two buckles, one underneath her breasts and the other connects her stockings/boots to her uniform. Down the middle, starting from the collar and ending just below her pelvis, is a zipper. The outfit gives off a mechanical look but in actuality it is all cloth, with matching gloves

Others in her district seemed not to be pleased by the human's special privilege, often commenting on her wardrobe. To Shepard, she saw herself as a doll; she was being dressed up and presented to everyone because of something she isn't proud of.

Vakarian lets out a laugh that snaps Shepard from her train of thought. "You're pretty self-centered, aren't you?"

"I'm just saying how it is." Shepard shrugs her shoulders. "I have to chase off the same guys daily, no one is scared of me."

"You looked pretty scary to me when we took down those thugs in the Med Clinic. You jumped right into battle, saved Dr. Michel just to get me the evidence. I'm terrified to ever get in your way," he teases. "I owe you a lot for your help."

"Oh how cute," Shepard teases him back. "I never had a guy flirt with me _and_ offer to be my slave…fine. I accept!"

The two continue to jest as they ride the elevator back to the ship. Vakarian talks about his father and it appears Shepard is not the only one who thinks the turian is a complete ass. Mr. Vakarian is a turian with a stick up his ass and likes to throw the book of rules at every little thing. Neither of them can stand the man, though Shepard counts her blessings that she doesn't have to share a dinner table with the man.

As they step out the elevator, Vakarian contacts the pilot that they are right outside and tells him to get ready. Shepard steps out of the elevator as someone goes to step inside. No one sees the stranger's arm grab the red-head's waist and shuts the door behind them.

"Shepard!" Vakarian shouts as he reaches his hand out.

"Vakarian!" Shepard doesn't get a chance to reach back for him because the doors shut tight and the elevator starts to descend. Wringing herself out of her captor's grip, she comes face to face with none other than Anderson. The man is wearing a merc's armor with the helmet under his arm, a calm smile across his face.

"Sabrina Shepard, we meet at last."

"Anderson, you're under arrest!" Shepard pulls out her gun and takes aim.

The older man laughs at her. "Figures you like pistols, I see so much of him in you." Anderson takes a step forward and pushes down the pistol calmly. "If you take a shot in here, it'll ricochet until one of us gets hit."

Reluctantly, Shepard lowers her gun but not her guard as she takes a step away from the wanted criminal. "What do you want? To kidnap me in front of a Spectre…you're risking a whole lot."

"I wanted to see you," he says. Shepard makes a disgusted and confused face. "Sabrina, you may not know me but I know you. Benjamin is like a brother to me and a father for you so that makes us family. I want to protect you."

Anderson takes a step forward to grab Sabrina but she takes another step back, her eyes turn cold. "I don't need protection from a _xenophobe_."

"I'm _not_ a xenophobe, Shepard."

"Then why did you take out Helios Prime? Why kill Nihilus?"

"I didn't do any of those things because they were turians…calm down, you're getting upset." Again, Anderson takes a step forward but Shepard backs up against the door.

"No! What other reason could you have? You want to help me but you killed the only thing I had left!"

"What? Nihilus? Were you two…oh, I see. I didn't know Shepard," the ex-Spectre apologizes as he walks to the window. "I'm trying to do the best I can." With a mournful look, he turns to Shepard. "I won't let them wipe out our race…and then we can move back to Earth, retire from all of this war. I know Benjamin would like that."

_Is he…?_ Shepard cautiously steps away from the door and stands next to the human, her hand gently rest on his shoulder. Anderson gives her a weak smile and shows just how worn out he really looks. _He can't cope with the loss of his friend…regret maybe all he has left and this is how he plans to fix it_. Shepard knew better than anyone, war can do funny things to the mind.

Her hand squeezes him. "It's okay now, we're together and that's all that matters. Come with me, we can get you help and then we can go live on Earth, okay?"

"…Forgive me. I just wanted to see you one more time, I felt like I was losing myself and my goal but you're like a breath of fresh air." Anderson turns and cups her cheek in his hand, giving her a smile.

Moving her hand over his, she smiles back at him. "Let me do the talking an-"

The doors open to reveal a group of C-Sec officers waiting for the two, lead by Spectre Saren. The moment between Shepard and Anderson is broken as he rips Shepard's gun off her waist and throws her out of the elevator, sliding until she hits the side railing.

David Anderson _earned_ his Spectre title. Despite having fifteen guns aimed at him and another Spectre standing in his way, he still gets away. By the time Shepard gets to her feet to rush to the other's aid, every C-Sec officer is on the floor and Saren is leaning against the side railing with a twisted arm.

"Saren!" Shepard rushes over to him first, moving him to lay flat down as she tends to his arm. Soon enough, the turian Spectre comes to and sees Shepard helping some of the officers back on their feet. With his good arm he strides over and lifts Shepard onto her feet, pulling her away from the others.

"Shepard! What were you doing with that _human_?" Saren tightens his grip around her upper arm.

"What your tone, _Saren_." Shepard doesn't wince as Saren's talons dig into her skin with a vice grip. "Remember who you're speaking to. I'm human too."

Saren looks more upset and tightens his grip, finally making the woman yelp in pain as she grabs Saren's hand and tries to pull him off. The other officers move in to help the woman but it's none of them that runs to her help.

"Saren!" Vakarian grabs Saren's injured arm and pulls him away from Shepard. "What are you trying to do?"

"Vakarian? Stay out of this. This human was _helping_ Anderson."

"What?" Shepard, Vakarian, and a few other C-Sec officers shout out.

Though it's Shepard who stands up to the turian, it is Vakarian who stops her and yells at Saren. "That's impossible, Shepard is working with me as of today. She was probably in the mist of arresting him when you interrupted her. Come Shepard, we should treat your wounds as quick as possible."

Shepard doesn't say a word as Vakarian escorts her back into the elevator and inside the ship. She meets the ship's turian doctor, Dr. Gyodia, who applies a smidgen of medi-gel to her wounds and fix her right up.

Vakarian never asks what happened on the elevator, a thing that she's grateful for, and escorts her to the storage section where all the non-turian crew members are put. Tali makes it her business to check on the human while Wrex doesn't pay any attention to either female. Tali does the routine check-up before she slips back to the engine room.

No one asks her about what happened, instead they just leave her alone to her computer. The first thing she does is send a quick message to her friends, who she is sure have already heard about the elevator attack. After both messages are sent, she starts writing a report to later submit to Vakarian.

_What did Anderson meant this was for me?_ Shepard couldn't help but fear what their future would hold.


End file.
